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candylover218

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Hi! Seeking advice from anybody kind / generous enough to help a girl out. I intend to apply to med school this fall, but my science GPA is low, like a 3.19, and I've a 3.48 cumulative (from a pretty good school though,Berkeley). I did a Masters in an ethics program at HarvardMed (3.9). My extracurriculars are pretty good, but no pubs. I intend to pack volunteer hours and publish once this spring.

Should I retake the courses I did REALLY poorly in (physics and biochem) or do a post-bacc (and retake the whole pre-med courseload - I didn't get any A's in physics, chem, ochem, bio, or math; just B-'s, B's or B+'s and a C- for physics2)? I'm taking the MCAT soon, too.

Thank you so much :)

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Check out Goro’s guide to reinvention. It’s a great guide for what type of classes you should retake/don’t retake.
Thank you! I'll definitely take that into account. Wish Goro could tell me what to do here lol
 
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I think C- have to retaken, if they’re required prereqs.

It doesn’t sound like you’re ready to apply. No A’s in any science classes?
I got A's and A-'s in most of my upper div science classes! But none in those pre-reqs :( *with public health / nutrition,toxicology majors
 
They won’t really look into your school but your GPA, it’s too low for MD schools. Maybe if you do well on the MCAT you can apply DO.

Maybe an SMP will help you. It’s risky though and with a 3.0 science GPA it may be tough for you to perform at the level necessary for success. Make sure to analyze and improve on what you’ve done wrong.
 
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They won’t really look into your school but your GPA, it’s too low for MD schools. Maybe if you do well on the MCAT you can apply DO.

Maybe an SMP will help you. It’s risky though and with a 3.0 science GPA it may be tough for you to perform at the level necessary for success. Make sure to analyze and improve on what you’ve done wrong.
*3.19 - maybe 3.2 depending on whether a course counts as science or not. I hadn't calculated prior to posting. I'm definitely committed to MD route, though
 
*3.19 - maybe 3.2 depending on whether a course counts as science or not. I hadn't calculated prior to posting. I'm definitely committed to MD route, though
I’ve come to understand that masters don’t really affect MD chances if you have a low GPA so not sure why you did that. DO I believe does consider it. You will need to prove yourself in the sciences. I don’t recommend retaking a C or better. Read goros guide and take upperlevel sciences and get a 3.8-4.0. Let your MCAT 510+ prove your pre-req knowledge. And even once you do all that I’d consider applying both MD and DO.
 
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*3.19 - maybe 3.2 depending on whether a course counts as science or not. I hadn't calculated prior to posting. I'm definitely committed to MD route, though
If you’re committed to the physician route, you need to consider DO. You can do it, but it might be DO. Which is okay!
 
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Without your MCAT it'd be like prognosticating a football game without knowing which teams are playing.
 
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*3.19 - maybe 3.2 depending on whether a course counts as science or not. I hadn't calculated prior to posting.

I'm definitely committed to MD route, though


So, it’s MD or nothing? It’s MD or do something totally different with your career path?
 
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So, it’s MD or nothing? It’s MD or do something totally different with your career path?
Just certain schools, too. It's not so much the degree, just the sort of education / curricula / community / research. I've been accepted to a PhD program, so I'll likely be pursuing that for the next three years (still unsure though!), but I'd like to be a physician-scientist (which I wasn't decided on until maybe last month). Didn't go the MD/PhD route because I (a) didn't think I could get into med school and (b) wasn't committed to practicing
 
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I know it sounds bad, but yes. I don't care so much about the degree or the school as I do the culture and whether the research / advisors in the med school is / are relevant to my own pursuit.
 
I know it sounds bad, but yes. I don't care so much about the degree or the school as I do the culture and whether the research / advisors in the med school is / are relevant to my own pursuit.
You're right that does sound bad.
 
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I know it sounds bad, but yes. I don't care so much about the degree or the school as I do the culture and whether the research / advisors in the med school is / are relevant to my own pursuit.

Is the PhD program you’re accepted at one of these schools you approve of? If so, are you willing to risk giving up going to this school to chance trying for a medical degree that might lead to an acceptance at a school you never considered? Have you shadowed physicians before? If you’re looking to do research and are looking for a specific academic culture, pursuing your PhD may be the better route for you. Pursue medicine if you’re passionate about patient care even if it means going to a DO school or one of the schools you care less for. You already have admission into a PhD program, getting an MD admission May take you years.
 
Thank you! I'll definitely take that into account. Wish Goro could tell me what to do here lol
I know it sounds bad, but yes. I don't care so much about the degree or the school as I do the culture and whether the research / advisors in the med school is / are relevant to my own pursuit.
Recipe for disaster. You can't have the mindset of "Schools X, Y and z or bust).

Your sGPA right now is lethal for MD, and circling the drain for DO. You're be autorejected at my school. And chances are really moot without an MCAT score.

Not all MD reward reinvention...they have enough candidates who didn't screw up thier undergrad. Luckily their are some that do, but you need to ace your post-bac or SMP and the mCAT as well. Do schools will be more forgiving.

Retake any pre-reqs < C.

I'm also not getting a vibe that Medicine is your calling, either. Have you volunteered with patients? Shadowed doctors?

Packing your volunteer hours will look like box checking.
 
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You don’t seem to seriously want “med school.” And if you don’t, then you probably won’t commit the time demands in order to do well.

It sounds like you just want to add the MD feather to your education cap.

What is your career goal?
 
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I know it sounds bad, but yes. I don't care so much about the degree or the school as I do the culture and whether the research / advisors in the med school is / are relevant to my own pursuit.

I read this three times and I’m still confused... what are your actual goals??


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Why would you take the MCAT “soon”? You are going to a PhD program for the next few years so your score would have expired by the time you apply. And frankly, your sGPA is so low , there are probably huge gaps in your knowledge base. This will cause trouble with the MCAT. What is your PhD program-biology, chem, etc.?
 
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Thank you all! @Goro ill definitely take that into account. I spoke to the advisors at my school, too, and are more than willing to accept students with my sGPA if there’s an “upward trend” and I do well in the classes I did poorly in, with thorough explanations.
I haven’t committed to the program - Cambridge psychiatry - only got accepted. So I thought I might talk to my advisor about deferring for 1 year to do a SMP (for which I need MCAT score). I’m scoring >515 on practice so not losing hope yet! I did volunteering throughout undergrad, but it wasn’t relevant to medicine (tutoring music) and I shadowed my mentor @ucsfneuro for 2 years to build a product (did hundreds of patient interviews but that doesn’t count as volunteering).
As for career goal, physician scientist-improving diagnostic methods/treatments in neurodegenerative diseases / psychiatric illnesses specifically.
 
As for career goal, physician scientist-improving diagnostic methods/treatments in neurodegenerative diseases / psychiatric illnesses specifically.
You don't need to be a physician to do any of these things, and it still doesn't sound like you actually want to be one. It doesn't sound like you have any significant clinical time and experience, and I don't think the patient interviews would count either-- plenty of PhDs can and do work with patients and interview them as subjects, too (maybe an AdCom can chime in about that, though).
 
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If you really want to go to an MD school, especially with the type of resources you seem to want, you're going to need to go to an SMP and then do well on your MCAT. If you're fine with applying both DO and MD, you could conceivably consider a post-bacc, but with a 3.19 sGPA, it would be hard to raise it to an acceptable level even with straight As.
 
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As for career goal, physician scientist-improving diagnostic methods/treatments in neurodegenerative diseases / psychiatric illnesses specifically.

Don't bother trying for MD, or DO, for that matter. Irrelevant to your career goals. Just do the PhD and move on.
 
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Thank you all! I spoke with Dr. Offner, the program director of the SMP (MAMS) at BU and he strongly recommended that I retake the courses I did poorly in this spring at Harvard FAS, then apply to BUSM this year's cycle while enrolled in the SMP. The Georgetown SMP director said the exact same thing but for her program and for GEMS, so I'll definitely be deciding between those this coming year and deferring my PhD. Thanks again for the advice! The majority of folks I've spoken with in premed advising have recommended that it is relevant to my career goals, which I suspected since undergrad (but wasn't wholly sure about then). I've been told I'm good on clinical experience, but lacking in patient volunteering, so I'll focus on that for the coming few months.
 
I suggest study like crazy for MCAT and possibly re-take a couple classes that you got C's in. If you do poorly on MCAT, then I would look into the option of post-bac.

In addition to nailing MCAT, you need to get a very strong letter of recommendation from a well-known physician. Focus on strong academic institutions in your area and choose some doctors to email directly. Make sure your email is polite, well-written, and expresses your sincere desire to practice medicine.

MCAT and a strong letter are way more important that extracurriculars and volunteer stuff at this point because the latter items are easy to add later on.

Best of luck and let me know if you need/want any more advice. You can PM me on IG (kristinakalilily). I'm a 4th year med student going into surgery.
 
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